See the thread below, "How difficult is it to plant bare root."

in the case of forsythia, can't imagine bare root could fail. Everytime I see someone about to buy forsythia at a nursery, I want to pull them aside and invite them to come to my house and yank however much they want. I yank and jamforsythia plants, sprouts, trimmings into the ground all the time and have run out of space.. Save your money for things that are tricky.

Ok but what is if the bareroot forsythia will be planted in topsoil+native soil mix? After removing the barberries and bittersweets, a lot of the soil was lost. So I'm thinking of adding in topsoil to make up for the loss. Of course I won't just be pouring it on the ground, I'll be mixing it with the native soil. Just worried that topsoil can shock bareroots

no amendments ...

https://sites.google.com/site/tnarboretum/Home/planting-a-tree-or-shrub

you could probably cut 8 inch sticks off your existing plants.. and if you just stuck them in the ground.. 6 out of 10 would probably root ..

you are way over thinking this near impossible to kill plant ...

ken

Hey Ken I read that article. But what do I do about all the lost soil? And what would happen if I mix topsoil, would the plant die?

And I want to make a privacy hedge asap so I think I'll just buy the plants

Or how about this. I take some soil somewhere else in my yard (which would still count as native soil right) and add that soil to the forsythias. Then I'll dump the topsoil to wherever I took the native soil from.

Wait until next spring when the local nurseries get in their forsythia. Then you can buy pretty much an instant hedge.

Finances have always constrained my gardening...so it's always bare-roots for me (apart from when buying a single specimen such as my lovely euonymous phellomanus a couple of weeks ago)...and as an idle gardener, there are few things easier than making a spade slash in the soil, wiggling it back and forth and slipping in a little bare-root maiden and treading back to firm in the soil.. Not only can they be had for mere pennies, they establish from an autumn planting with no extra effort apart from weed clearance and a nice mulch. Of course, a temperate z8 might be ideal and other gardeners have a more challenging climate...but even if money allowed, bare-roots would always be my preference...for both ease of planting and speed of establishing.

I buy bareroot roses, but must confess I have no idea where to find bareroot shrubs. Please share the best sources!

In the UK, most of the bare-root shrubs tend to be classed under 'hedging' and can consist of numerous bare-root trees and shrubs, rootballed (especially larger specimens) and container grown box, lavender and yew. A maiden alder or hazel or dogrose can be had for less than a dollar and are usually bought in bundles of 10.

Soil & Water sells bundles such as Campanula describes. I've purchased birch trees, native viburnums and a few other things. Our county usually has lilacs and forsythia on the list. They are whips (a single cane) and often people will grow them out a bit before transplanting to the final location.